'What are you thinking?': Waleed Aly's plea to young people on The Project

By Georgina Mitchell

UpdatedMay 24, 2016 — 5.01amfirst published May 23, 2016 — 4.07pm

Waleed Aly has made a passionate plea to young Australians to make politicians "really bloody nervous" by voting in the upcoming federal election.

On The Project on Monday night, the host and Fairfax Media columnist spoke directly to the "almost one million Australians who are not enrolled to vote in the election on July 2" and singled out the "democracy-resisters" aged between 18 and 25, which make up 38 per cent of all unenrolled voters.

"So, what are you thinking?" Aly asked. "Are you happy with the people that everyone else has elected to lead us so far?"

As a montage of politicians flashed onto the screen, Aly outlined the various issues facing young people, including 12 per cent youth unemployment, the prospect of cutting penalty rates, being locked out of entering the housing market, and the possibility of paying $100,000 for a university degree.

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"Let's do this": Waleed Aly on The Project on Monday night.Credit:Channel Ten

Despite this, he said, almost 50 per cent of 18-year-olds still aren't enrolled to vote.

"And you know what, I get it," Aly said. "I get that you don't feel represented or part of the conversation. I get that you're made to feel dumb and lazy and inexperienced when you ask questions or voice an opinion, and the truth is it suits Malcolm [Turnbull] and Bill [Shorten] to keep you quiet.

"Because if we had automatic enrolment of all eligible voters, there's some evidence it would actually benefit The Greens the most, and that's bad news for the Coalition who are politically at odds with them, but it's terrible news for Labor, who would see their own voter base erode.

"You and your mates could actually decide whether or not these people actually have a job.

Malcolm Turnbull is licked by Brando the dog on the campaign trail on the NSW south coast on Monday.Credit:Andrew Meares

"Also, I don't want to be a downer, but not enrolling to vote is actually illegal, and if you're busted for not voting, you can cop a fine."

He then urged people to enrol and make their votes count, especially in marginal seats like McMahon, Lindsay, Brisbane or Lilley, before the electoral rolls closed at 8pm on Monday.

"I don't care who you vote for, just vote, because right now we only have a partial democracy. Let's get a real one," Aly said.

"You guys could completely change the outcome of this election and make it clear to our politicians that it's time they considered you when making their policy decisions about things like jobs and education and housing and the environment, or how we treat asylum seekers.

"And if that doesn't excite you, maybe you just like the idea of making Malcolm and Bill really bloody nervous. Let's do this."